Edge Of Life
by Your Friend Tiger
Summary: Clint Barton, Aka Hawkeye, wakes up one morning to discover he is, in fact, not dead. He's actually very much alive. Weird. Though, soon, that might not be a problem.
1. Song Of A Caged Bird

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Avengers, or The Guardians of the Galaxy, I wouldn't be writing fanfics about them. Just saying.**

I didn't remember surviving.

In fact, I could clearly remember dying. The building had fallen to pieces all around me, blown to bits in a last shot to defeat the undefeatable. I remembered it clearly. I had been there. I had died.

But unless the afterlife was some sort of alien prison, whose occupants looked like something out of Star Wars, then I had survived.

Or this could be heck.

I wasn't sure these days.

It always smelled like smoke and sweat here with a little bit of rust. Like no one had showered for ages. They may not have. They only allowed prisoners to shower once a week. Maybe some didn't shower when they had a chance. The water did smell funny. Not the mention the slight green color. Or maybe they did shower, but the water just made them smell worse, or…

Maybe it was poisoned.

It didn't matter though. If the water was poisoned at least it meant I had survived. You can't poison dead people. I knew that, I had tried it before. It didn't really work.

I sighed. It seemed every day went like this, trapping me deeper in my mind.

But it was all there was really to do.

Sometimes I thought about my home, my past, the good times.

I hoped to wipe out the bad time I was in.

More often I dreamed of escape to get back to the good things.

It worked sometimes and I found myself in a different place, a better place, somewhere that didn't stink like a land of pigs, where they feasted upon bread that tasted like it was made of ash and stayed in their little pens until let free to wander in a larger cage.

Though I myself rarely went out myself. With the huge alien bodies that towered over me. I felt dwarfed and weak. I didn't have any weapons, not really anyway to defend myself. I hated feeling weak but I semi-knew when to admit it.

Didn't stop me from hating it anymore.

I was held in a prison filled with aliens who knows where. I had lost track of time ages ago and it seemed I was weaponless. And most of all, I was very much alone.

I had been tempted to seek friendships among the strange folks, heck, I was an avenger. I knew Thor. And things don't get much weirder then that. But most of them looked like they wanted to eat me. I had even caught a few licking their lips, after that I had decided that it would be better to work on my own.

I hadn't made a strike for freedom yet. But today, or tonight, that was all to change.

I was going to escape.

I was pretty sure there was no try in this case, no redemption here. I had seen what they did to the attempted escapees and it was nothing short of death.

There was no going back.

I was going to try to leave this heck hole in some mad dash for freedom in about five heartbeats or die trying.

Five.

Guards scramble to their positions. Each ready to take out any misbehaving scoundrels but still out of danger of being attacked.

Four.

The leader of the guards walks down the hall, making sure everything was well, his dark suit looking like some sith lords. He double checks everything, before nodding.

Three.

The lever is thrown by the leather gloved guard, his white helmet reflecting the light.

Two.

The doors crank open, making clinking noises and an alarm blares once, letting everyone know it's time. Time to wander around, just as they do every day.

One.

I stand up, blinking at the brighter lights from the main room. It smelled of sweat. Sweat and smoke. Just like it always did. I stepped out of my cage, leaving the steel bars behind.

Larger life forms wandered out of their cells. Their strange bodies so different then I had ever envisioned, while other looked like something out of sci-fi movie like Star Trek.

Most of them ignored me; others just gave me a slight glance. I was fine with that. It was better to blend in then to stick out. Besides, I wasn't planning on sticking around.

It was simple, mostly. I just needed a reason for a guard to have to come down. I could start a fight but the guards would just gas the whole place. It was nearly impossible to get guards to come down. Even more so to get to one.

Luckily I was pretty sure I knew how.

I settled down, sitting on the floor where I knew the guards could see me, which wasn't hard, the guards could see everywhere in this stupid heck hole.

I smacked my lips, once then again. I looked around, eyes glazing over in a confused manner.

_So many aliens…_

Then the seizure struck.

My muscle's clenched up and I let out a cry before jerking around violently. One of the guards said something in a series of low grunting noises. I felt arms clutch me and I hoped it wasn't one of the prisoner aliens. It was one of the guards. Luckily.

I was still struggling as I secretly snuck the security card from a guard. It wasn't the first seizure I had faked here but the others had been set-ups.

I had what I'd seizured for.

After a few more heart beats, I let myself relax and I took breaths more freely. The guards dragged me to my cell, sealing it up tight like they had with the first one I'd pulled.

Only I had already been in my cell last time.

They locked it up tight, knowing if I was safe in cell then it was less likely I would be eaten. Except I wouldn't be in my cell.

I had a security card.

If you would call it that. The card was thicker than most down on earth, and felt more like it was made out of dried goo then plastic. It had nothing on it, just a few strange bumps. An alien language perhaps? I wasn't sure, and I didn't really care.

I was going to be free.

I unlocked the door, working quickly to keep the squeaking at a minimum. Next thing I knew I was walking calmly down halls I had never seen before. I had never been in them before, but they felt familiar.

I knew why. A smirk played on my lips. Yes, I knew why.

The smile died when I found the first window.

Stars. Millions and millions of stars.

I wasn't in the afterlife.

But I wasn't where I belonged either.

I was on a hunk of metal, floating in space. A billion miles from nowhere.

I was very much trapped.

Closing my eyes, I looked away.

There had to be a way out of here.

"Hey!"

I turned to see a guard who was looking as surprised as I was. The creature was without a suit. It had a bubbly looking head and something similar to the looks of an elephant trunk but on its forehead. It made me feel sick.

The worse thing was it was hot pink.

I cursed, taking off in full out flee mode.

There had to be a way out. _There had to be_.

But if there was, I never found one.

My leg pounded against the metal floor and after what felt like months, I hit a dead end. I was cornered. Cornered like a beaver in its own trap. Though last I checked, beavers didn't set traps.

Several heartbeats later, the leading guards swerved around the corner. The pink chewed up gum creature and something that looked all the world like a beaver.

How the mighty have fallen.

The bubble gum held its hands out like a person trying to ease their cat from a tree. The beaver pulled out my gun like the person going to shoot the cat out of the tree.

I was not going down this way.

I took a desperate leap to safety in the rafters above, why hadn't I thought of that before? The beaver moved impossibly fast, and I felt the sting of the dart in my leg.

I hit the ground and my whole body screamed with the impact. Game over. I had lost. My vision threatened to black out. I fought it, I fought it hard. But it was a useless fight. Darkness was closing in as a flash of revelation crossed my mind. I was a fool.

There was no way out.

...

One Year Later.

Still somewhere deep in space.

I think.

Guards wandered the halls, obviously prepping for something big. Curiously, I watched from my cell as the guards rushed past me. My cell mate grumbled in his cot, snoring loudly while he was at it. How you snore and talk at the same time, I will never figure it out. But this is Drax, a large ogre like alien man who had been my partner-in-prison for about sixteen sleeps. He was about as thick as twelve trees with skin that was dark gray and red tattoos all over his entire body. At least, I was pretty sure that they were tattoos and even if they weren't, I had seen weirder.

He snorted and sat up, rubbing his eyes as he glanced around wildly.

"Are my friends here?" he asked, a smile creeping across his face.

Right. His friends. The mighty guardians of the galaxy. Seriously, some of the lunatics that I get trapped with.

Drax rolled off his bed, landing on the ground in a way I couldn't imagine being comfortable. He stumbled over to join me at the door. "Are you ready to be free?" he asked me, his pale eyes watching every movement his enemies made. Even though his tattoos couldn't bother me, the fact that his white eyes were rimmed with red gave me the shivers like nothing else. I did know one thing about this universe that I didn't really know anything about and it was about this.

I was glad that Drax was a friend, not an enemy.

An alarm blared. Something was wrong. Well, wrong through for the enemy. But not for us. "Do you have a plan" I whispered over to him as the last of the guards rushed past us in a frenzied rush to reach their destination. Drax laughed, something that sounded like two rocks scraping together "No" he replied "but my friends… they will have a plan" I rolled my eyes, my teeth on edge. "Are you sure it's them?"

He smiled "It's them" I wasn't quite sure as he was. Maybe I was jealous that he had a team to back him up, and I was on my own. I don't know and I didn't really care. "So we just wait" I muttered, throwing my hands up in frustration. His eyebrow's furrowed (or they would have, if he had any eyebrows) and nodded "we wait"

I know I can't speak for Drax, but I personally didn't like waiting around for someone to rescue me. Especially when I don't believe in that someone who is supposedly rescuing us and when we could busy ourselves with the impossible escape. I had given up ages ago but with Drax… maybe it was worth a shot. I mean the guy had to be over a thousand pounds of just muscle… I mean the guy was HUGE and with him I was pretty sure we could get out, except all the guy wanted to do was sit around and wait for his friends.

Seriously, what sort of escape plan is that?

Several screams rang out in the corridor and he broke out in a grin. This guy sincerely believed his friends were out there to save him in a high security alien prison. It was almost to the point where I believed him too. Though there was a nagging in my mind screaming at me to stop hoping. I had seen so many people die in prisons because their 'friends' were going to help them break free. You had to do it yourself or rot.

There were more loud banging noises and a few shots. Then it fell silent. Utter silence. His brow creased in thought, or perhaps worries. Drax was a hard to read, though I was getting better at it.

His lips pulled back into scowl and he muttered something under his breath. "Trouble?" I asked, standing up slowly. The action was through; our chance for escape was lost. "The silence…it troubles me" he replied. I smiled; it was funny of how much this big guy reminded me of Thor on an occasion.

Gosh, how I wanted to be home. I crawled in the bunk. Drax crept into the lower bed. It was one of the first agreements we had made. I preferred to be up high and to see all that I could in our tiny cell and I was pretty sure that the wimpy bunk couldn't hold his enormous bulk and personally, I wasn't found of the idea of being crushed by a billion pound ogre.

I clutched my eyes, trying for forget the action earlier. We had a chance, a single small chance to escape. I sighed. We should have taken it… frustration built up in me. I would rather die on my feet running then rotting in a cell, waiting for nothing.

Then again, I never seemed to get what I wanted.

Drax snored loudly in a calming rhythm. I sighed again staring at the cold metal roof, wishing for all the world that I was where I belonged. Home.

Daylight came all to fast. It seemed like one second I was sitting in my bed, prepping for sleep and the next, I was still in bed. Only it was morning and I still felt the same tired as I did just a second ago when it had been night.

"Any idea what happened yesterday?" I asked Drax, who was thoughtfully eating his breakfast. I grabbed my own. It looked like a soup with purple blobs floating in the greenish-blue broth. It was one of those meals that made me rather eat Stark's cooking or the ash bread. I shrugged it off. I liked purple right?

"It was an arrival" Drax said as I took a mouthful of the whatever. I instantly regretted it. Imagine tuna marries melted plastic and have blob children. Those children are now swimming in their own sweat and _you're_ supposed to be _eating_ it. "Arrival never did that before" I muttered, mouth full of putrid alien food. "Not any_ prisoner_ arrival has done that before" he corrected, obviously giving a poor attempt at not laughing. Advice for you young people, purple does not make good eating.  
>If you have to eat a color, eat green. Or orange.<p>

"Not a prisoner, eh?" I prodded, setting aside blob children and fighting my gag reflex. A look of fear and a glance around the room.

"I heard" he told me, his voice so low it was nearly below my hearing range "That it is the dark lord himself" I blinked, surprised. "You mean Voldemort?" I asked eyes wide. Drax looked confused 'I don't know of this… Voldemort you speak of" I waved it off, no biggie. "Just tell me abo-"

The door cranked open, cutting me off. A small squad of the guards filed in. "Oh… hello" I managed.  
>"Barton" Drax whispered "I don't think these are your friends" I raised my eyebrows "I know that" I breathed "What do you think I am?" His eyes narrowed "Is not hello a greeting for friends?"<p>

One of the guards broke out in a series of strange language. He gestured at me several times and I noted the bead of sweat that found its way across Drax's gray skin. I moved my gaze to the speaker. The light reflected off his helmet and beamed off into one of the others eyes. It would have been a weak point but I was pretty sure the helmets were like sunglasses. Their circle was strong, there would be no escape. "They want you to come with them" Drax mouthed.

The guards gestured a few times and I heard a few footsteps behind me. I was expecting a nudge, or a shove but what I got was a full on gun slam on the back. Drax's cry only echoed my own as the guards congregated around me. Guns brought down, battering me around. They were everywhere, slamming, kicking. I tried to fight back, to get away. But just as before there was no escape. I swore I heard Drax yelling in anger, sounding just like Thor's battle cry. Then everything slipped away, leaving me in darkness.

...

**Sorry it's kind of short. And I apologize if it's a piece of crud. I hope you guys enjoy though but if you don't review, I'll never know if you liked it, or if there's something wrong with it and that would be tragic. Don't you think?**


	2. Taking Flight

How does someone forget what real lights like? Only someone who has been trapped in a cage, who's only light source is the dim light that leaks through the bars. Someone who has been in the dark for what seems like ages. Apparently, someone like me.

I had forgotten what it was like. To have every corner illuminated, to have everything _bright. _And it burns to be brought back.

That pain started when I made the mistake of opening my eyes. The light was piercing. I clenched my eyes shut, fighting it out. This was not my cell, no way and whether that was good or bad, I wasn't sure.

I took a deep breath, taking in my surroundings with it. My hands were tied down; my head ached like someone had dropped a pony riding anvil on it. It seemed slightly familiar but different. Something clashed at my left and I dared a glance. Not that there was really nothing to see. Nothing but brilliant, burning, bright light.

Okay. This was not going to work. I'll have to figure out something else. Slowly, I cracked my eyes opened. The light blazed through but not enough to destroy my optic senses. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Besides I could be patient for a minute. Two might be problem but I could handle one.

After ten heartbeats I cracked them open a slight more. "Barton!" Drax yelled. It sounded like my big pal had tagged along.

Pew!

Crash!

Bang!

I messed up, jerking around in my seat. My eyes shot open wide, only to be greeted by eyeball savaging light. It was almost as painful as my killer headache. Gunshots sounded out but the light… Someone yanked at the bands of my arms and I rolled to the floor. If I survived this I was so becoming a vampire. Never coming out in daytime was starting to sound really nice at the moment.

I was roughly yanked to my feet and dragged like a bag of sand. "You" said an extremely irritated voice "Are coming with us"

I briefly pondered digging my heels and stopping but something held me back. Gunshots can do that to people. Even people who have lived on the brink of death their whole lives.

The light danced as my eyes slowly adjusted. The pain fades out of focus as I just focus on the repeated footsteps .

Thump.

Thump.

Slowly, almost painfully, my sight returned. Though I think my colors were off, after all, since when were woman green?

She turned her head around, her lips seemingly moving before any noise actually came out. "Are you coming or not?"

"No need to wait for me!" called the reply "It's not like I'm about to die!" She took a glimpse back again and let out a string of curses as colorful as her skin. She stumbled to stop, pulling me to halt beside her. She spared me a glance "Stay" she demanded before rushing off to Drax and things went to heck from there.

First off, one of the guards exploded from his armor; in an instance he had grown to the size of a huge building. If I had been aware that they could do things like that, I would have been way more careful of than I had been. Something told me you didn't want enemies that explode out of their clothes every time they got angry, which makes me wonder why people still bother the Hulk. Isn't that pretty much suicide?

After he had reached a size that suited him, his dark red eyes shone against blue gray skin, glaring at his enemies. And then he proceeded to started throwing things. Large things. Things the size of cars and buildings. Objects that were very much larger than me. Most of them flew over the guard's heads, the suits reflected nicely off the flying masses of metal as they flew onward to squash a little bird.

Staying here wasn't exactly ideal at the moment.

I dodged, narrowly missed being crushed as the pieces came raining down, leaving depressions where they crashed. Shards shot out, leaving several cuts across my skin, though most of them on my face. I could feel the drops of blood leak down like sweat. I darted out of the way as more metal parts came tumbling through the air. Staying definitely wasn't an option.

I made an attempt to get out of range of the metal before tumbling to a stop and gazed back. As far as I was aware, those guys had just saved my backend there. Now it was my turn to return the favor. As long as I wasn't crushed by the giant's missiles of doom or shot down by a phony storm trooper.

It took me a second to remember I was exposed. I was very much was empty handed, in weapons and in knowledge. I didn't know the best places to strike but really, what better way to learn then on the spot?

Just then the woman returned… and she was still green. She ran past me, her hand shooting out and grabbed me just below the shoulder. Her grip caused pangs to run up my arm and it felt as if she had yanked out it out of its socket. "The monster…" I trailed off as the raging beast came hurtling after us, shaking the ground. "Just keep running" she hissed, her dark eyes glowering.

Drax ran alongside us, looking happy as could be. "I told you" he huffed "that my friends would come" Friends? I only saw one.

Our feet pounded as hurried on our way. "Here!" she tossed something over to Drax. It was a mask. A _breathing _mask, and from my personal experience, one doesn't need breathing masks unless... "Please don't tell me you're planning on blowing us out into space" I panted. She looked at me, interest lining her gaze "I didn't have to tell you" she snorted, her grasp falling away "you figured it out on your own"

"Did you even grab enough breathing masks for all of us?" I asked, breathless. Every limb in my body shook and I was pretty sure it wasn't exhaustion. I was on the verge of panic, even though I had been in crazy situations like this, about a million times with aliens and everything.

She bit her lower lip. _Great_. Someone was going to have to suffocate and knowing my luck, it would be exactly who I thought it would be. Namely, me. "We can figure something out!" Drax called, a single drop of sweat finding its way down his face.

"Sure we will" I murmured, hope draining out. I barely knew Drax; I didn't know her at all. Why would they help me?

"Here" Drax hollered, tossing his mask to me. I dove and barely managed to catch it. "What about you?" the lady inquired. "We can figure something out, Gamora" he repeated.

"Will a guard's helmet work?" required Gamora, sending a dark look my way. I shrugged, legs aching as we continued down the hall "How would I know? Do I look like I've worn one?" I droned sarcastically. She shot a death glare at me.

We hit the end of ship. The only escape was the round hatch of a door. The door we couldn't even escape out of yet. We could hear the giant's footsteps slamming down, racing in for the kill.

"Crud" Drax moaned.

I tossed back the mask "Just promise me you'll come back"

His eyes widened and he shook his head "We are not leaving you"

"I don't see why" Gamora hissed, low enough I probably shouldn't have heard "He's been pretty useless so far"

Ouch.

Drax's eyes narrowed, his voice dropping below my hearing range. Gamora joined him too, in their little whispering game. The loud footfalls came closer, my mind picking up images of large feet stamping down on us until my eyes caught on the items hanging on the wall.

"Hey guys" I attempted to catch their attention "Will those masks do?

They turned their gaze to the items dangling on the wall.

"Let's go" Gamora said, promptly breaking the glass casing and yanking out one of the masks. She tossed it to me. An angry scream echoed and the footfalls of what sounded to me like a thousand fuming giants.

She threw a small knife, lodging expertly into a nearby button. The door slid shut. Panic sidled up my throat. She was going to get us all killed.

"Prepare yourself" Drax muttered "Space isn't kind"

I forced my mask on, briefly wondering if there was supposed to be an oxygen tank. If there was, I certainly wasn't wearing it.

"Don't you have a ship or something" I muttered darkly.

"We do" Gamora replied "We just need to get to it"

Great. Flying around an endless dark sea with a green lady and an ogre was my idea of fun. It took me a second to realize something that might be kinda important.

This is space. There is no gravity. You cannot run in space. You have to be propelled.

I for one, had nothing of use in that situation.

"Wait" I called "Don't we-"Too late.

She pressed the button.

It all happened in a flash. The door opened and space sucked us up, eating us as fast as anything remotely edible goes down Thor's gullet.

And then there was nothing.

Nothing but the huge darkness of nothing. We call it space but in reality it's a giant hole. A giant hole filled with… well, nothing.

With gravity gone, I just kinda found myself just floating there. I kicked my legs, trying to get myself to my deemed right way up. The worse thing was that I had no real control of the situation. Control was something I needed. I didn't need to have complete control. That was about impossible.

But I did _need _control over myself.

It was a paranoia I had acquired since the hellicarrier incident.

Gamora had suited up. She wore a unique helmet that made her eyes glow a dark red and she was propelled by her boots, which were now shooting rockets from them.

Useful. I would have to prod Stark into getting me a pair.

She reached out, grasping the neck of the back of my shirt. She moved onward, taking Drax by his hand. Half of me wondered if she took his hand because he didn't have a shirt, or if she had grabbed me by the shirt because she didn't want to touch me. That was understandable. I couldn't remember the last I'd washed. Disturbing, right?

My collar drew tight, becoming a noose. Painfully, it began to become a major frustration. A major strangling frustration. I really hate that kind.

They're a wee bit uncomfortable, you know?

Gravity yanked me downward. My throat burned as she dropped my on the floor.

"You are in a heap of trouble"

The speaker was human. A man I would say somewhere in his late thirties, his reddish hair messed up like we had just interrupted his nap.

"I was just doing what I had to"

Gamora stood her ground, though her eyes soft but firm. She was not going to back off. This was her fight. "It needed to a small party and I knew none of you would allow me to go alone"

The man chuckled. "Well-"he managed to begin before the enemy started to attack.

It came in blasts and crashing. The floor shook and groaned.

"I am Groot!"

"I'm gonna agree, buddy, its bout time we get movin!"

The floor shook lightly only this time, it wasn't gunshots and explosions. It was the talking tree. With a raccoon. A strange feeling washed over me, like I should be surprised but I couldn't be. When life goes to heck, it becomes hard to get surprised over little things. Though the houseplant could not be called small.

It towered over, leaning over to look at me.

"I am Groot"

His face was inches from mine, tree breath blew lightly into my eyes.

"Uhhh, Hi Groot" I stammered, mind racing to figure out a way to politely stop him from breathing into my face. Tree breath is worse than it sounds. "I'm Clint Barton" my name sounded weird even to myself. How long had it been since I heard my own name? I had told it to Drax not long ago, I think. About a few days after I tried to kill him with my stick.

The hair on my neck rose when I realized everyone was staring at me. What? Was I not supposed to talk to trees? "That" Gamora muttered "Is our tag-along"

The raccoon laughed "That's good! Tag-alongs are great in an emergency" I sincerely hoped that comment had nothing to do with the suspicious red markings along the edges of his mouth.

The ship rocked violently.

"Why haven't we left yet?"

They scramble to their seats, belts locking them into place. Except for me. I didn't get a seat, I didn't have a buckle. I _did_ have one heck of a ride as we blasted out of there.

**Haha, realized I posted a bit of this chapter last time. Whoop-sie! Thanks for the support I've been getting, it means a lot. We'll be getting to some better action soon. **


	3. All Over Again

"So you're from Earth?" Peter asked, eye lighting up with excitement.

"Yeah" I muttered, pressing the ice pack thing to my face, which had become about a million different shades of blues and blacks. My hands had little cuts from my desperate attempts to stabilize myself. And every inch, every bone and every nerve, ached like crazy.

I felt like I'd been hit with Thor's hammer again.

"So am I" He smiles like a kid who had just found himself a new favorite treat.

"Really" I wished he'd just go away and do something useful. Or something totally useless. It didn't matter as long as he was leaving me alone.

He fiddled with his hands, nervously. Maybe he had gotten the vibe to back off or maybe he was lost in thought but the silence was a short lived relief.

"Why'd you leave?" I asked, more out of duty than curiosity. He chuckled lightly but didn't answer. Instead he stood up, shaking his head "I've got better things to attend to" he said as Drax scurried by "Stay right there and I'll be back" he held out his hands like he was telling a dog to stay before he too rushed away.

I laid back, ready for some rest. Reaching my bow… only to remember I didn't have it. I'd lost it when I'd died.

Dying sucked.

My head throbbed; reminding me that it seems that I had survived. Maybe I had pulled through again; maybe I could go home and rest for a while. But there would come a time where I'd pick up my pieces and get back to work. It was an endless cycle.

Only this time I wasn't home. I wasn't anywhere near home.

A red light flashed, accompanied by a light beep noise. I looked around, hoping someone would stop and fix it up, but no one came.

The beeping grew louder, my guts twisted in my stomach. "Hey guys" Nothing. Jerks.

Groaning, I picked myself up and walked to the light. "Hello? Why is this button flashing?" These people needed a J.A.R.V.I.S really, really bad. Irritated, I pressed down the button. The screen flashed to life.

_"The universe as you know it is over" _rasped a familiar voice. I felt a shiver crawl up my spine, my insides froze. I was reliving the past.

_"The world as you know it is over" he said, eyes fogged over and voice rasping "A new era has come, an era more powerful, more great than any of those you have had before. An era not ruled by man or his creations." A spark ignited in his eye, sending flames throughout them. "An era created by me" He looks directly at the camera now, a dark smile on his face "Welcome to my era" The camera blinks out, leaving us in darkness. "That was… enlightening" Stark says, looking as confused as I was feeling. "So, any idea who the heck that was?" _

_ I chuckled "Probably someone who wants to take over the world"_

_Tony shrugged "Most new people we meet seem to want to"_

_"I guess that's why we don't get new friends very often"_

_He scoffed at that "I get new friends all the time" he told me._

_I rolled my eyes "There is a difference between getting new friends and making them, Stark" _

_"You're mean, Legolas"_

_"Meaner and hotter, just deal with it" I gestured at the screen "So what we going to do about new era here?"_

_Stark grinned, flashing his pearly whites "J.A.R.V.I.S is traced him" he said "How does a trip to England sound?"_

Foot prints echoed in the hallway behind me, breaking me out of memory zone. Sounded like they had finally gotten their butts over here.

"_Hand over Barton, Guardians, and you may still save the galaxy you have sworn to protect"_

"How could we do that" Gamora demanded, stiffly. She would hand me over in a heartbeat.

"_Hand him over and I will wait a year before setting my plan in motion." _ I knew this voice well. After all, hadn't I been chasing him across Earth for months? Hadn't I died to stop him?

Yet I was alive. And so was he.

"Maybe you want us to hand him over" Gamora snarled "because you can't complete your plans without him, Mar'kino'sit"

His green eyes hardened, his scaly face twisted into a scowl "_You have three days"_ The screen blinked away, revealing the plain wall again.

"That was… interesting" Peter stated. Interesting? More like horrifying. An exhilarating horrifying. The kind that leaves you bleeding in the inside but as happy as a drunken fool.

A really, really drunk fool.

"So what's the plan?" Rocket asked, pulling out something resembling a gun and a rabbit. "No" Star-lord said, an accusing finger at the device "You almost blew up a planet with that thing"

"Yeah" the raccoon lifted the hunk of metal "That's the fun of it"

"Put it away!"

"Make me, pal!"

They shot glares at each other, before Rocket sighed "I don't need it anyway" he muttered, disappointed at the loss of chance to use his death toy.

Drax looked at me "We will not hand Barton over"

"Course not!" huffed Rocket "What we need to do is warn the wackos he's going to attack"

"How long will that take?" Gamora was all business, her dark eyes glowering.

"Wait" I asked, not following "Where are we going?"

"Some big city full of people who would love Gamora's head on a plate" Rocket waved off my question.

Gamora took it more seriously "It's a place of kings and gods" she said "It's called Asgard"

**That took longer than it should have. I had to keep erasing it and rewriting nothing was working. Argh. Still not sure if I'm happy with it. Anyway, reviews appreciated as always.**


	4. A Broken World

"Three years ago" Tony announced "This very day" his voice was slurred. He'd been drinking again. He sloshed his glass around, the liquid dripped over the edge of the glass. "A hero died today ya'know"

Steve sighed. It had been the same way last year.

"You didn't kill Clint, Stark"

Tony shook his head. "Who sent him ter E'gland?"

"He sent himself" Natasha's voice was cold "Barton didn't listen to anyone but himself"

Stark's eyebrows furrowed as he took this in. He could have sworn…

"If it's anyone fault" Steve was saying "It's mine"

"Can we please stop the blame game?" asked Banner "It's not healthy you know"

"Nothing we do is healthy" Natasha said, taking the bottle of wine off the counter and pouring herself a glass.

"Shoulda seen it comin" Tony said "So much for bein a genius"

Banner twitched. One more idiotic comment and he was going to blow off some steam. "Every year you guys do this" He muttered "Every _single _year. How long is this going to last?" he glared at them "When can you learn to let go?"

But he knew as well as they did there was no complete release. Hawkeye was burned into their minds. A memory that they couldn't push out. That they didn't want to.

"At least it's only once a year now" Natasha said "Not every day"

Out of them all, Natasha had fared best. Or at least she looked like she had fared best but Banner suspected she didn't want to show what she believed to be weakness.

Thor barged in, his hair flowing as he walked into the room.

He was a welcomed distraction.

"Thor!" Tony slurred "You've come to join the party!"

The god looked confused "I was not aware any foe was vanquished today"

"There wasn't" Steve replied "Tony doesn't let us fight today"

Thor nodded, bewildered at his fellow avengers dreary mood. "Why doest thou party then, my friends?"

Tony chortled "Why ya'here point blank?"

The thunder god's gaze darkened "Asgard is in trouble" he said softly "And we needeth thy help"

Steve stood up "What seems to be the problem?"

Thor only had to say one word

"Skrull"

Everyone froze.

Thor smiled sadly "It appears Mar'kino'sit has returned"

"Marr-whatcit?" Tony snarled "Isn't he the one who crushed our bird? Didn't he die?"

"He was crushed" Steve's hands twitched uncontrollably, something he always did when he didn't like what he was hearing "With Clint"

Banner perked up "If he's alive does that mean…" he trailed off, unsure of what he was about to say.

"It's best not to hope" Natasha whispered "Hope only drags you down"

But everyone could see how badly she wanted to believe.

"Don't you think it's funny that we're discussing this on the exact day he died?" Banner wasn't into coincidences; there was too much fate in them. He knew Natasha didn't believe in chance either.

Thor twitched, uncomfortable. He wanted to make it home before the real battle began.

"Why is he attacking Asgard?" Steve asked, though they all knew the answer.

"He wants the stones"

The Tessaract and the Scepter.

"I suppose he came up with some big threat"

"He has enough power in his hands to blow up several planets, once he is through with Asgard, he will destroy Earth."

"That's stupid" muttered Tony "If he blows up Asgard, how's he suppose ter get the rocks?"

Thor frowns "He is wise, he will find a way"

"Bah" Tony growled "He better have a good one"

Thor shrugged.

Steve sighed once more and went straight to business "When do we leave?"

"The sooner the better" Banner guessed. Thor beamed, despite his circumstance.

"I'll get mah suit" garbled Tony.

….

Mar'kino'sit hated his name.

The Mar meant honorable. He knew he was anything but honorable but he got by. It must not be that important.

'Ki meant brave. He was a risk taker, he could face danger. But he couldn't take loss. Loss is what had made him, it was what had driven him to it.

He wondered if his followers thought him brave. He wondered if they believed in him. Unlike his brother, Mar'kino'sit cared about more than power. It was why he craved power. To help his people, to satisfy his and their need for revenge.

No' meant bloodshed. That was something he understood. It also meant strong. He pretended to be strong even as his plan fell apart.

He had needed Barton.

Barton was a key to the operation. A Skrull couldn't keep up an appearance forever, even if they had all the memories of the person they were pretending to be. Especially since the enemy would be suspecting it.

Last of all, the sit meant avenger. This was the most ironic part of his name.

Avenger.

The name of the team he was about to destroy in the name of his brother.

Mar'kino'sit was an avenger, he just wasn't one of _the_ avengers.

_Avengers. What a stupid name. To avenge you have to lose something first._

They'd probably come after him because he killed Barton. Except he hadn't.

In fact, he was the one to save him. Even if it had been an accident.

But it was because of that accident that he hated the hawk. He would make Barton pay if it was the last thing he did. He would give the Avengers something to avenge.

He would give them hope.

He would give them a lost cause.

Mar'kino'sit smiled. It split his scaly eyes and a glimmer spread across his golden eyes. He hated himself for it but he found pleasure in the idea of their pain.

Hawkeye would die a failure.

The Avengers would fall with him.

But at the moment, there was only one thing in his way.

And they were called the Guardians of the Galaxy.

He sighed. Why did things always so complicated?

"My lord" drawled one of his generals "A problem has been solved"

Mar'kino'sit held back an annoyed snarl "Get to the point" he asked, keeping his voice as civil as possible "Which one?"

"The Guardian one, sire" the general purred "They have been found"

The Skrull king suppressed a smile "Send Laytanï "he ordered, finally letting his smile free. It was a dark one, filled with pain and vengeance.

The General held back a shiver. He was glad he wasn't one of the enemy. "Of course, Mar'kino'sit, my king" he scurried off, shouting orders to a few of the men.

There it was again.

The name.

_Mar'kino'sit_

How he hated that name.

And you want to know the funniest thing about that name?

It wasn't even his.

...

**This bit wasn't going to be in the original story. They were just drabbles to help me get to know the villain better. I decided to have the Avengers bit to explain why they show up on Asgard instead of it just being like 'Hey! guess what! It looks like the Avengers are on Asgard! Wha-hoo! Next Clint runs into a little bit of trouble on their way to Thor's home...**


	5. A Twist of Fate

Quiet is one thing, silence is another.

Quite are those empty spaces between words, the stillness in the rush of life. Silence, on the other hand is that void that sucks up sound, leaving it awkward and dangerous.

Silence is good, though quite is better.

I woke up in silence.

At first it hung there. Thick and heavy and then it ever so slightly told me something was wrong. Something was very, _very _wrong.

I strained my ears, searching for a sound but nothing came.

I really hate the golden noise.

A slight creaking noise echoed throughout the ship. It was one of those sounds that sent shivers up your spine. They tingled as they ran up my back.

I waited for more, but nothing more came. This for some strange reason seemed a lot worse than noises. Like that one time when that hobo snuck into the tower and stole all the pop tarts.

Thor had not been amused.

The bed creaked lightly as I stood up, not bothering to stretch. Hopefully, it would be my imagination. Hopefully not another giant space bikini monster. If I had to face another one of those…

I'd probably throw up.

I stalked across the floor. Putting my hand on the door, I tried to figure out the best way to open it without it moaning like a dying puppy.

I decided to quickly open it. The faster the better, right? It made a blustering noise as I whipped it open, a suppressed gagged dying puppy noise emitted from it but other than that nothing happened.

I'd have to talk to Peter about oiling the hinges or something. Also into getting me a belt. His pants were too big for me and they would probably fall down in the most needed moment.

And that would be embarrassing.

I just needed to look for it.

Slipping into the hallway I wandered down them, following the hissing voices of my instincts. Always trust your guts, Barton. How many times had Trickshot told me that?

About a million. And that was the wisest thing that a-hole had taught me beside how to shoot.

Several muffled noises sounded out around the curve. Something that probably wasn't good.

I pursued them. Coming around the corner to find the weirdest fights I'd ever seen.

Gamora fought blade to blade with several dark suited aliens that I knew to be guards from the prison, two others stood back from the fight, watching, waiting for the assassin to fall.

And the biggest surprise?

There was not a noise. All the fighting and screams were muffled, you could barely hear them.

Not a sound.

"What the?" I tried to say. I felt my lips move and the words forming in my mouth but the sound was yanked away from me and drowned out by the silence.

One of the bystanders turned on me and I had to suppress a scream. Not that it mattered; no one could have heard it anyway.

She didn't have any eyes. Where they would have been was laced over by her skin, which was a pale white that you could almost see through it. Her bloodstreams shined through it, a bitter black. They pulsed and wreathed on her, creating patterns and words.

Puts a whole new meaning to written in blood.

Her hair was a nest of wreathing tentacles, each with a mouth of its own to go along with her own faces.

She grinned, revealing blood red fangs.

It was disgusting, really.

Her partner turned with her, the mask glittering in the light. It started for me, but Lady Nightmare pressed her hand against its chest to stop it. She didn't have to say a word but her message was clear,

_This is my fight._

She pulled out two swords, taking one from her back and the other from partner.

If she had eyes, I swear she would be glaring.

_Are you prepared to die?_

It took me a moment to realize that she was speaking into my mind. It sent shivers up my spine again. For a second, I wished that she was a giant raging space bikini monster.

Actually, I take that back.

"How do you plan to kill me when you can't see?" The words were ripped from my mouth and dragged towards her.

She was sucking in the sound.

_I lost my eyes so I could see all. _Her voice hissed in my mind. She sounded angelic, like little bells tinkling.

"Are you working for the Skrull king?" I hoped the words sounded correct. It was hard talking without hearing the words come out of your own mouth. It was like drinking Phil's lemonade and trying to hold a conversation with Natasha. I still don't think Coulson knows about sugar.

She laughed; a sound that probably brought most men to their knees, if she wasn't so dang ugly.

_He thinks I am. But I'm here for a different reason then he thinks._

She glances at Gamora. Her meaning pushed across.

She was sent for another reason but she came for revenge.

From the looks of it, on Gamora.

_She wants to protect. She wants to be a hero. She will fail and her friends will die._ Her voice hardened _Starting with you._

Why me? Probably because I was the one who was there but maybe because I'm the best looking. Who knows?

_Oh…_

She leapt, graceful as a tiger on the hunt. I managed to dodge her swords but her boot slammed into my chest, throwing me to the floor.

If she was a tiger, I planned on being a shadow.

This was the first real fight I'd been in since the accident. The others had been handled by the guardians and I had just stood in the background, watching.

I rolled, narrowly avoiding her blade. It buried itself, inches from my face. I could feel the breeze as it rushed by, hear the sound of the air parting for it to pass before it buried itself deep into the ship's dusty metal floor.

It felt good to be back in the game.

She tried to yank it out, her mouth set in a tight line.

It seemed like a nice moment to return her favor. It gave me no small satisfaction to slam my boot into her stomach. Her mouth turned into a well formed o as she fell backwards.

I pulled myself to my feet, putting all my muscles into yanking out her sword.

One Hawkeye, now armed and ready.

Enter in one freak lady, also armed and ready for the fight.

It's a good thing Gamora had all the lackeys covered, or I might have been shot to a million pieces before I got sliced.

Her blade twirled flashing in the low lights; I lifted my blade, barely managing to stop her from hacking my head off. I sliced at her hand, she screams, with echoed in my mind like a Ping-Pong ball between two expert players. Her sword fell to the ground, though there was no clang as it hit the ground.

"What was that you said about me dying?" I asked, pointing the blade at the floor, raising my eyebrows as high as I could.

_Rot in #&$! _She tossed a large glowing object at me, reaction causing me lean forward and catch it. The stone pulsed light blue but appeared to be made out of the same stuff as a bouncy ball.

At first I wondered why she threw a harmless toy at me, I almost threw it back. Probably would have if she hadn't stabbed me in the stomach.

_This is what I meant, little bird._

Funny. She knew my name.

I don't remember hitting the floor but it was cold, almost dreary.

She turned her back on me. To her, I was already dead. Something I found myself to be semi-fine with. It gives the advantage of surprise, even if that advantage hurts like the squashed pumpkins.

"Barton!" Gamora yelled, snapping the last of the minion's necks.

Couldn't she have finished that a few seconds ago?

The tentacle lady started to whisper, the only sound audible. Gamora let loose a battle cry, or at least, she tried to, while I simply took out the enemy with a solid whack to the back of her head with the sword handle.

Sound returned on a breath.

Gamora's unfinished battle cry came out in full force. It echoed throughout the hall. If anyone had been having a nice sleep, they'd be awake now.

The only door in this part of the hall swung open, narrowly missing Gamora's face. Drax picked out, his face dropping into total shock.

"How does a battle ensure out my room?" he asked, referring to the fact that he hadn't heard a thing.

"Who is she" I panted, gesturing to the villainess's prone form.

"She's called Laytanï" Gamora wrinkled her nose "She became a bounty hunter after my sister and I killed her family, she swore to kill me"

"You have issues" I muttered, low enough so she hopefully didn't hear.

She didn't appear to.

"What do we do with her?" Drax asked, kneeling down to get a closer look at the idiot who had stabbed me in the gut.

"What about them?" I asked, pointing at the still forms of Laytanï's partners. Gamora shrugged "We'll chuck them or something" she drew closer, her eyes locked on the growing patch of red that soaked my shirt. "Personally, I'm more worried about that"

Just then the sound faded again, we were sucked dry of speech and the she-devil sat up.

_You let me free and I will not return_ the monster pleaded, eyes on the dead forms a little ways down the hall.

A few seconds of the soundless void before it broke. My eardrums popped this time, letting me know that we could speak again.

Lalanï smiled, a fearsome sight "Thank you" she hissed, her real voice holding the same ring as when she mind-spoke.

She turned her face towards me "You've defeated the king before" her voice rang out "Do it again"

Then the she-devil vanished.

"Why the heck did you let her go for?" I groaned.

Gamora smiled and I realized I would probably never know.

"We need to get you fixed up"

And that was that.


	6. Poisoned Breath

The bandage was tight. Tight enough to stop the blood flow but not to keep me from breathing. Though it seemed to prohibit it some.

"A battle on my own ship" Star-lord was muttering "And I wasn't part of it"

Rocket snorted.

We were all sitting at the table, supposedly eating breakfast. Though most of them, like me, didn't seem in the mood to eat. Nobody but Rocket and Drax were eating the lovely meal Groot had cooked.

Gamora sighed, leaning back "We need to get rid of this guy before he does something worse than blow up lone islands" She looked at me and I knew she was going to pop the question.

"She said something about you killing this guy again"

Killing. Again. Two of my least favorite words to be in the same sentence.

"How'd you kill him the first time?"

She'd said it. She'd asked the question.

I sighed; knowing it was sooner better by later didn't really help.

"Well, settle back in you seats, lady and gentleman, good faring tree and… whatever you are" I said, almost hearing the ringmaster saying the same thing "This is a long story"

_"I'm telling you, that place you tracked down was a dead end" I spoke into my cell, which Stark had colored purple somehow. Though it was me who had placed the Avenger stickers I had bought at the store. I wasn't included in the pack so I had gotten me a heart sticker and that on it too. If anyone asked I'd say my kids had done. It was a harmless lie._

_"And I'm telling you" Stark replied "That is where the signal traced"_

_"Your tech musta broke down, Stark, that place was empty" _

_"Barton, you man of little faith, perhaps it was your eyes that failed you. My tech never breaks"_

_I snorted "Oh Stark, you fish poop of Pin-sized belief, perhaps your mind has failed you. My eyes can see you from here"_

_"I'm not a bass turd Barton, and if you can see me, what am I doing?"_

_"You're giving me the raised fingers while mouthing rude words"_

_Stark snorted "You are sooo" his voice faltered "Right. Okay. But you're doing same thing"_

_I put my hand down, grinning "So it wasn't my eyes and it wasn't your tech, it must have been your mind"_

_"My mind never fails me, though your seems to have failed you"_

_My grin faded "What I miss?"_

_"Cap's on the same plane home as you, Hawky" _

_I rolled my eyes "You suppose I just so happened to get a seat next to him?"_

_"Urmm…chance"_

_"Doubt it. I saw what seat number he got when he bought his ticket"_

_"Remind me never to doubt your eyes again… at least until tomorrow"_

_"Right. I'm going to lose my eyesight tomorrow"_

_"You better not" Tony chuckled "Whether you like it or not, we need you on the team, Barton, almost as much as we need me. And you know what? Get yourself a wig or something and pretend to be someone else and just creep Cap out for me"_

_I chuckled "Maybe I will" I said, sitting down on my designated spot. Cap joined ma a few seconds later. "Rogers" I muttered and he looked at me, surprised._

_"Oh…umm… Clint! I didn't see you there!"_

_I rolled my eyes "You weren't supposed to, sir"_

_The plane arrived at the port earlier then it was supposed to, an extremely rare occurrence. Not always a good one either._

_After words Stark worked on bringing Steve up to speed as I lay on the coach and drifted off…_

I blinked "Where was I again?"

"Well, you went after the guy who sent the treat messages only to find the trace was a fake, so you met up with a friend and went home" Rocket said, fiddling with one of his new gadgets "And then you blanked off and stared at the wall for a while."

My guts twisted and turned, a slight ache at my injury "Sorry" I mumbled before starting up again.

"It happened a few more times after that, We'd receive a message, Stark would trace it to some place but…"

_"What has this been?" I groaned "The fiftieth time?"_

_I dropped my things onto the coach and plopped down next to it. I was exhausted from days of traveling to find nothing. Natasha had already crawled off to her bed. _

_"It's only been twenty-five" Banner said, not looking up from his newspaper. _

_"Close enough"_

_"You know" Banner said "It's almost as if he knows where we're going to strike at him, he's always prepared"_

_"You're telling me" I grumbled, pushing my equipment off the coach "Do you think it's possible he got camera's here?"_

_Banner shook his head and chuckled "Jarvis would have sensed cameras or any other spying equipment"_

_"So how would he be spying on us?" I griped, fiddling with a small stray piece of string. _

_"That's just it. There's only us" he sighed, glancing at me with raised eyebrows "Would you like me to make you some tea?" _

"No way!" Rocket interrupted "Your friend offered to make you tea!" He broke into fitful laughter.

I rolled my eyes but left the raccoon in his disbelief. My stomach rolled and I adjusted to a more comfortable seating. My heart beat echoed in my own head making the world slightly spin.

"Do you guys have any pain meds?"

Star-lord shook his head "We used them all up and we've forgotten to get more"

I felt shaky but nodded "Right"

_"If you think you can find me" hissed the demon creature "You will find out how wrong you are" he grinned "I can appear as anything, I am anything" He glares at the screen "And I am hidden among you" the screen blinked out._

_Stark throws back his chair "Jarvis, where is this fish poop?"_

_"Moscow, sir"_

_"Populated area?"_

_"It would appear so, sir"_

_Tony let out a string of curses that would burn out any child's eardrums._

_"Well" Natasha said "That cancels out the torpedo" _

_Stark slams his head against the desk._

_"Why can't we just win this?" he moans._

_Something Banner said clicked in my mind._

_"We can't win" I whispered "Because he's here"_

_Stark's eyes grew wide as he quoted our enemy "I am anything"_

_"And I am hidden among you" Steve finished, eyes narrowed._

_All the pieces fell into place._

_"I know who it is" I announced "But we'll have to be quick"_

_"Who is it?" Steve asked, eyes growing weary, afraid of what had happened to one of his comrades._

_"It's obvious when you think about it" I closed my eyes "It's-"_

I cut off in the middle of my story, coughing into my sleeve.

"So who was it?" demanded Drax, enthralled.

I lifted a finger, asking him to wait a few seconds more. My lungs burned as if it was being ripped from its place to be hacked up in a simple coughing fit.

"I am Groot"

"Give the guy a minute" Rocket said "Can't you see he's choking?"

My blood seemed to scorch my innards, making them scream in pain. My heart pushed it on, threatening to set me on flame. Colors began to dance.

"Ahhhh" I began to say, the words not forming right.

"I don't think his choking" noted Gamora.

Then everything turned red.

….


	7. Too Damaged To Fly

I was floating.

Somewhere suspended in the mist of my mind. Lost in a time that was long gone. Flashes. Pictures. Little bits of the past that made me.

Somehow I was lost in the parts that I hated the most.

The parts you always get caught. The ones that hurt the most.

_"Hey Clint, What's up?" Next thing I know there's a gun shoved up in my face, then there's a body on the floor, and it's certainly not mine._

_The world is flashing, the colors danced around me, shifting into each other. "It's going to be okay" she said, or at least that's what it sounded like. Some words rolled off my tongue, but I can't remember what. The colors died, fading away. Unmade. I knew what it was like to be unmade._

I forced myself back into consciousness. The light came in gently, and there was some faint music playing.

"Lookie here at who just woke up"

Star-lord was fiddling with the glowing bouncy ball Laytanï had thrown at me "Welcome back to the ship of the living"

I sat up, ignoring the biting feeling in the knife wound. "What happened?" I groaned. I felt as if someone had set me on fire to watch me burn. And it hurt. Lots.

"Poison" he answered "That's what happened"

"Poison"

He nods "Yes siree, poison "

Just my luck. I sighed, leaning against the back of the bed. "That's… pleasant"

He just shook his head "Not really" he said "It's actually an denel… an incurable poison. So we don't have a cure" he looked at me "so we're hopin the Asgard's have an antidote or…" he trailed off, letting me vividly imagine my death. None of them were pleasant. Not a single one. Poison had a habit of being ugly.

"While you're awake, why don't you take that medication now?"

I spared him a glance, pulling myself out of poison horrorland. "I thought you didn't have any meds"

He laughed "Come on bro, that was three days ago!"

Three days? I felt my eyes grow wide. There was _no_ way I had been out for that long. Quill looked at me, curiosity lining his gaze "Groot can grow some sort of herb that makes you sleep, the meds we give you will do the same thing but it's better that you sleep through this, pal, it's not going to be a pretty trip for you"

I was dying. Nothing new there.

"How long till Asgard?"

Peter shrugged "It all depends on if we can get through the attack force, Asgard been under siege for almost a week now. If we can't get through, they can't help you."

Sudden worry for Thor shot through me. He could handle siege, he could probably fight off anything. But if one thing happened to someone he loved. He would be broken.

Quill handed me the medication, which I promptly took. "Y'know" Peter told me "If you're up to it, you could finish that story and I'll tell it to the others" he tossed me the bouncy ball with a wink. I looked into its blue light and almost laughed but tell him the story I tried.

_"Banner" I lied "It's Banner"_

_Stark shook his head "No, it's not"_

_"Who else would it be" I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. Ask me. Pull me aside and threaten me. I need to talk to you alone, Stark._

_He didn't hear my silent plea. People had a habit of that. Ignoring the unsaid words. So I mouthed them. Stark, we need to talk. _

_Nothing. Either he hadn't noticed or he was ignoring me. Both likely, dang Anthony._

_"Right" Stark sighed "We'll separate"_

_No. Stop it right there, Tony._

_"All right" replied Natasha in unison with Steve._

_No. No. No._

_I had it in my head to drag Tony aside and talk to him but didn't get the chance. "I'll go with Natasha and we'll go to Moscow and see what we can find"_

_Cap nodded, catching on to Tony's plan like a mouse into a trap. "And Barton and I go catch up with Banner" He nodded "Works for me" Doomed. I was officially doomed. "So you two" Stark said  
>"Are going to England" he smiled, eyes locked with mine. <em>

_Idiots. The lot of us._

_I licked my dry lips as Cap came and patted me on the shoulder "Just you and me on an adventure?"_

_Right. An adventure. I suppose it would be better me than someone else…_

_Right?_

The light creaked in. Unlike that one time in prison, this time it was pleasant, like fresh baked cookies or mornings after a rainstorm. My stomach swirled like it was cleaning up some bad laundry.

I must have fallen asleep telling the story if how I died last time. I briefly wondered how much of it I had actually told.

I could hear their voices from the door, which almost fell off its hinges when Drax threw the door open. He was grinning ear to ear while hiding his hands behind his back.

"You'll never guess what!" Rocket said, coming up from between Drax's legs "We killed you!" he sounded so chipper about it that it was hard to ingest.

"You WHAT?"

The raccoon smirked "We killed you, Buddy"

"You… killed me?"

"You can count on it!" he shook his paw at me "And you'll never believe what you fought us with. A bow! With arrows!"

A sinking feeling erupted in my chest. Had I traveled from the future? At some point in my future life would I travel back in time, only to be killed by my friends? I made a mental note not to partake in any time traveling.

"It wasn't really you" Drax admitted "But a daring look alike"

A daring what? It almost took a full minute for me to realize what they were saying. "You had one of the alien guys and you just… you just killed it?"

"I am Groot!" the tree towered in the doorway, a grin on his face.

"Good point" exclaimed Rocket "He was trying to kill us _first, _so we just returned the favor!"

Drax couldn't keep his secret any longer; he brought forward his hands, revealing… my bow. I swear nothing could keep away from that weapon once I had it in my sights. _Nothing_.

Drax laughed heartily as I snatched it from his hands, eyes glittering like he was at a party, not a dying man's temporary room.

"I see it is your weapon, good friend" He beamed and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks guys" I muttered, my guts twisted and turned again. The pain seared lightly and I swore I could smell smoke.

"I am Groot" said the tree, as if he sensed my agony. Someone must have given me the medication because I drifted off before the poison attacked again.

It felt good to be with friends but I missed home. I missed the breeze, I missed my team, and I missed old friends and enemies. I needed to go home and I could only hope Asgard was good enough, because…

_There was no hope left for me. I was pretty much a walking dead man. Cap strolled beside me as we followed Banner's signal but unless he was hiding in an abandoned warehouse, which was fairly likely with Bruce. He liked dark places. Never could understand why, but he did._

_Cap was alert as he walked in the warehouse, eyes moving softly across the seemingly empty warehouse. "Is he here?"_

_I shook my head, unsure, though I hoped he was. It would be nice to have the Hulk on my side for this._

_I took a deep breath of the chilly air. The empty shelves towering over us like giants waiting to crush us against the chilly floor. There were cameras on the sixteen large beams that lined the walls to keep the roof from collapsing down on us._

_Steve's hand shot out, grabbing my arm. The motion pulled me out of my death walk. I knew he was going to make me say it. "You don't think its Banner, do you?" he asked, voice firm but eyes pleading. I tried to yank my arm out of his killer grip, but his enhanced strength made it impossible. I sighed but relented "No"_

_ His grasp weakened enough for me to yank away and he nods "I didn't think so"_

_I allowed myself a crooked smile "I think we both know who it is"_

_He cocked his head "I think I might need a hint, Barton"_

_"I didn't think it's that hard?" Anger managed to seep into my voice "It's you"_

_Steve raised his eyebrows, a complete look of shock. "Me?"_

_I grinned "Time to drop the act"_

_So he did. His fist met my face in a blur and I knew it was already over._


	8. Brought Down Under

"We're dooooomed" blared the alarms after the first blast hit the ship. Smoke flowed out of the engine as it roared and rumbled to keep us from plummeting to a gruesome death against the tall golden buildings of Asgard.

Peter let out a sour curse as the ship plunged downward, spiraling into the perfect nose-dive. "They're on us" Gamora warned, her wary eyes on the window.

It seemed like a dream. Everything was slightly blurred, almost as if it weren't real. Maybe this was all just a hallucination and when I blinked it would just vanish, like a cloud blowing away in the fast lane of the wind.

But at the same time, it was all too real to just blow away. If it went away, it would be in flashes of fire, a torrent of flame.

The smoke billowed around us and would probably kill us faster than any cigar could. Enemies were on our tail like wolves stalking an injured deer.

When Gamora had said I had about a day left before I died, I thought she was talking about the poison that was slowly eating me away, but she could have been talking about getting shot down trying to break through the barricade around Asgard.

Star-lord did everything he could to keep us from getting hit and going down but the dark circles around his eyes revealed that his sleepless nights were taking its toll.

"They have a shield up!" screeched Gamora as Thor's great city broke into view as we erupted from the clouds. Quill cursed, jerking on the controls in an attempt to do something, though I wasn't sure what. "The dang ship's broke!" he exclaimed, in a vain attempt to do his plan.

The golden shield of Asgard grew closer and closer, a giant wall of magic ready for us to crash against it.

I had a habit of trying to imagine how I would die, but being squashed against Thor's glowing barrier like a bug against a windshield hadn't really been in those plans.

A small rocket object burst forth, the wall opening up a little to let the little flare through.

"I didn't realize Asgardians had missiles!" cackled Rocket in a death frenzy.

The sun hit the missile, light bouncing off the metal in a brilliance of gold and red.  
>"I don't think that's a missile" I managed to say before my voice gave out. Again.<p>

_So, Thunderpants says you're here to help._

Tony.

What was he doing here?

"Yeah, we're here to help" cried an extremely frustrated Star-lord "we tried to get here sooner but we're in-"he never got to finish his sentence as a fresh bout of bullets blasted against the ship, causing it to shake and tremble.

_Those your friends? _Tony mused _after all I don't want to kill your friends_ he blasted a few out of the sky, sending them tumbling to the ground. A little too late if they had been our friends. They'd be toast now.

_Several of your rockets are bent, If I manage to straighten them, will you be able to fly? _

Peter shrugged a mad grin on his face "Hopefully?"

_Right-o._

The Iron man vanished from sight.

Red tinged the edge of my vision; my fever seemed to rise as if the fire had traveled through the ship and into my skin, burning me up.

"I am Groot" the tree grumbled, sounding almost worried.

"Aww, come on." Rocket groaned "We just got here, you're not allowed to die when we just got here"

I waved it off "Not dead yet"

I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to see the ground reaching up to smash us a billion pieces to be blown away in the wind. My hands clutched the familiar limbs of my bow in a death grip. Sweat beaded down my face and my heart burned.

A few hundred profanities came from the front.

And then there was…

Cheers.

They were cheering.

I cracked my eyes open, both my heart and stomach seemed to be in my mouth but I was alive… for now.

_Don't you dare forget about me _burned the poison _don't you dare forget who will be the one to bring on your end. There is only one way for this to end, and that's with a grave._

The ship puffed and smoked, threatening at any minute to fall to pieces beneath us.

_Okay, we're letting you in, _Tony announced, _so you better not kill us while we sleep._

I closed my eyes, meaning for it to only be a moment, but it wound up being a lot longer than planned, think forever…

Ha, just kidding.

But it was still a lot longer than a moment. Unless a moment is now a few hours…

...

_"A comrade of ours was injured during our journey"_

_Drax. That was definitely Drax._

_"We have some of the best medics here"_

_Was that Cap? Something deep inside hoped it was._

_A sigh. "I'll guide you" that had been Natasha. I'd recognize her voice anywhere._

_The ship shook slightly as footprints bounced it up and down as they entered. I probably should wake up, at least to say hi, but sleep feels good, even with the ever looming threat of a psychopath alien._

_"I'll wait here" Natasha said, sounding utterly uninterested._

_She didn't know it was me. I wonder what her face will look like when she does._

_"They've broken through!" came the terrified screech._

_ Panic ensued._

_Natasha cursed "I'll send the medics! They'll get your friend!" her footprints faded as she called "We need all the able warriors in their places!"_

_"We should help" Gamora whispers "We can't do any more in here"_

_"Right" Star-lord sighed._

_And they were gone. Gone to fight the Skrull king. I remembered his cold green eyes the last time I had seen them and shivered._

_Ma-kino-sit had golden eyes._

_I reflected on the night I died. I could remember his golden eyes glowering down at me, almost glowing in the dark warehouse._

_Then I let my mind flow to the one message, the hand over him message. His eyes had been green_

_Another memory popped in._

_"This isn't him!" sobbed a voice. _

_Pain, Pain, and more pain. That's all I knew, all I was._

_"You retrieved the wrong being" full out crying followed. What were they talking about? Why where they crying? I split from the whole scene seemed separated. Separated by a wall of pain._

_"Never let him see light again" hissed the broken man "He is the monster. _He _killed my brother!"_

_And then it faded away, into nothing._

_But it was enough._

_Ma-kino-sit was dead._

_I was alive._

Hello Barton, _said a familiar voice, _I need you to come here.

_And I woke up._

I knew what needed to happen.

The only way to end this was with a grave, remember?

...  
><strong>Sorry this took so long to get up but I had rewrite it and my computer keeps breaking down. Luckily this is the only one on this computer, the other's are on my mom's.<br>So we're almost done guys! there's only two more chapters after this. Thanks for all the support! It means a lot!  
>And...<br>Review and maybe... just maybe it won't end with Clint's grave. Maybe.**


	9. I'm a Lost Cause, Okay?

The city was on fire. Smoke billowed up, pouring out from the buildings. My legs were shaking, my vision was red, but I kept walking.

It hurt, like I was the one burning up, not the city.

The meds passed by me, now that I'm thinking about, I probably should have gone with them.

But I didn't. I was too busy following the voices.

_Hey Clint, when you reach the hallway, turn left._

Pillars lined up, holding up the roof. Like the warehouse. It really wasn't as much of a hallway, more of a corridor. You could have a herd of a thousand elephants run through it and still be able to walk safely along your way. It appeared to be one of the few buildings that were fire-free.

Luckily, since I was kinda in it.

You could hear some wailing in the distance. Like everyone's favorite brother had just died.

I clutched my bow, wishing I had a few arrows, even just one. Then, I turned left.

_Good. _Came the whispering, _now you see that door? It's gold so it blends in with the walls. Go through it._

It dangled on its hinges, broken. Funny, it seemed to be the only broken thing it the whole castle. It sent shivers up my spine. This was wrong.

The hallway was cold, slowly sloping downward. I'm pretty sure it leads under the ground but I wasn't sure.

I was running on instincts and they were telling me that I was about to die.

_Hello._

The room was empty, except for the scepter.

It lay there, gold against the gray table. A blue light leaked from the stone, floating into the air before vanishing like smoke in the wind.

"Hey guys" I croaked "Who's supposed to be protecting this? I mean, it's an infinity stone, right? Shouldn't it have a guard or something?"

There was no answer.

"They're not doing a very good job!"

Still nothing.

My vision flickered red as I picked up the Asgardian weapon. At first nothing happened, my breath hung in the air, my vision flecked with red.

I waited before deciding that there hadn't been a trap.

Then the Barton luck kicked in.

First off, the door had closed. Whether it had shut when I walked in (doubt it) or when I picked up the scepter (more likely). And then the water came it.

It started as a trickle, dripping down on my head. Though the second that I looked, it just _had _to start pouring buckets down.

"Hello?" I called, hoping someone would answer.

The water began to pour down harder.

My vision flashed red. My insides began to twist.

This wasn't good.

"I'm about to die in here!" I threw my fists against the door.

"Thor? Tasha?" Panic. Red. The world was falling apart in water and rain…

And then, once again, the world burst into bright red pain.

…

"We need more people in the air!"

"Already on it"

Natasha's green eyes followed the Guardians every move as they ran off, except the large man.

She could almost hear Clint's voice in her head saying _that one looks like an ogre. Bet he's as thick as twelve trees._

Right.

He stood next to her, arms folded. He, like her, didn't like to be left out of the action but as Thor had said, someone had to protect the Infinity stones.

And who was better fit for that than the Black Widow herself.

And apparently this oaf.

What was his name again? Max the destructive force? Drax. That was it. Drax the Destroyer. What a stupid name.

_You really should be nicer to him. For all you know he has a really cool super power, like his head explodes when he thinks too much._

It would explain a lot.

The Destroyer turned his gaze onto her, his red-rimmed eyes sending shivers up her spine. Though they really, really creeped her out, The Widow would never show it, or any other emotion for that matter.

"Are we not supposed to protect the stones?"

She sighed, pulling herself out of her internal dialogue. "Yeah, I suppose you want to check on the Tesseract?" her eyes didn't meet his but she knew he had nodded.

He stalked off, silent as a wraith.

Natasha made a mental note to check on him soon. She didn't want to lose an Infinity stone. They couldn't afford that.

The first thing she noted was that the door to the Scepter had been left open. Her nerves prickled at this as she stalked down the narrow hallway.

Not a soul in sight.

The thick stone door was closed, either meaning someone had closed it, or Tony had actually remembered to shut it.

She reached over to open it before pulling her hand back. She needed to check on Drax.

And with that, Natasha turned and left.

…

When I came back, it was because I was drowning.

I opened my mouth to scream but instead of air bursting out there was nothing. A big sickening nothing. The surface was gone and I wasn't sure which way it had went. A thin trail of blood floated in the water. I tried following it but I hit a wall. With my head. It hurt actually but was probably the least of my worries.

The scepter had been lost in the endless blue.

Not that I really cared. After all, it was its fault. Stupid thing.

Oh, look. I'm out of air. How much longer till I die?

A minute? A second? It doesn't matter much anymore. The sooner the better.

My hand caught on something carved in the stone. A handle? I pulled harder. Nothing. Darkness is closing in, ready to wrap me into eternity.

Then…

The stone pulls away. The water bursts away and rapidly flows away. My head breaks the surface, if only for a moment. But it was enough.

I kick and almost crawl away from current that continually pulls me down, like a hand from the grave. My head breaks the surface, for reals this time.

The air is cold, a little musty, but it's perfect. The current washes itself out, setting me down on the floor after a few last tumbles.

Adrenaline pumps in my veins, moving with the massive flow of blood. Every heartbeat bringing the poison closer, drawing me closer to death.

I'd never felt more alive. I had air.

I could breathe again.

Something bumped into my foot. I bent forward; my hand grasped the chilly metal. The familiar handle felt smooth to the touch. At first, I thought it was my bow, but that had been, and still was, hooked over my shoulder. It wasn't until I yanked out water; I realized quite what it was.

My shoulders shook lightly and I let go.

I laughed.

Stupid scepter.

I hate really.

I rose shakily to my feet, knees threatening to give out at any minute. Scepter gripped tightly in my right hand. A quick glance around told me I was in very unfamiliar territory.

I mean, since when was there a giant statue that breathed fire? I'm pretty sure this was not the way I came in.

And then I hear the screaming.

…

Drax was up to nothing. Nothing at all.

Except he looked like he had a heart attack.

"The Tesseract! It's gone!"

Her heart flies to her mouth and in a flash she's pinned the Destroyer to the nearest wall and asking him what he's done with it.

He's shaking his head, he's arguing.

Natasha pulls away and speaks into her headphone

"They've got one"

And then the screaming started.

"What the-"

The screaming ends right there. Dead.

An idea crawls up her spine. Something only the heartless would think.

"You have a friend in the hospital"

It was a statement of fact but the mere mention of his buddy, Drax's eyes grow wide. "They wouldn't dare"

And then he runs.

Because they would dare.

Natasha runs.

She doesn't know why. Something in her soul that keeps telling her that she would regret it if she didn't. Which is funny. The Black Widow never regrets.

Or so she says.

….

The last echoes of the screams bounced around the chamber, sending shivers up my spine. Why did villains always do such creepy stuff?

Not that screaming was anything new. I could tell you the exact amount of villains that induce screaming and that's… all of them.

They just did something different to get the screams.

Kill someone, torture them. Villains love screams. They love panic.

They love revenge.

My feet left a little pitter patter echoing around the hallway and I ran. I ran and ran, until I was breathless and pained. The red glaze was returning. The poison pumping like adrenaline in my veins.

It was exhilarating.

I was starting to hear voices. Not in my head. Nuh-uh, not this time. They were real.

_Shut up, girl!_

_Please leave my baby alone!_

_I said shut up! One more noise and you won't have to worry about your little girl hear except how you're going to bury her._

A dead end. The wall towered above me.

_Where's the Scepter?_

I gritted my teeth. It was the big guy himself. Ma-Kino-sit was here. The only person with the answers and there was a wall separating us.

_It's in that chamber that I told you about! I swear my life on it!_

_For all your swearing it wasn't there woman! Stop lying! _

My eyes scanned the wall, top to bottom. Searching… Searching…. Finding. A small indent in the large wall of stone dipped in far deeper than others. A tunnel perhaps?

I had to find out. My arms ached as I forced them into motion. Pulling. Pulling. And more pulling. My feet help a little. Sweat pours down my face.

Or I'm hoping its sweat, as nasty as that is.

Okaaaay… am I ever going to get there?

Oh, wait here it is.

I pulled myself into the crevice and guess what; it's actually a doorway… though it's like made of a whole bunch of little doors. It's hard to explain. Anyway, one of these little doors was open so I could see them but I couldn't fit through it.

It was just a peeky hole.

There were about thirty skrulls counting the king. Two held onto a young woman with the longest blonde hair I had ever seen. Another skrull is holding a young girl who seems to be an exact copy of her mother.

"Try the throne room!" screeched the mother "It could be there!" every tear that runs down her face puts a pang in my heart. Unless that's the poison.

"Sorry, you're out of time" Ma-Kino-sit waves his hand.

The knife flashes, ready to plunge itself into the girl's throat. And then the skrull clatters to the floor, a long black blade buried in his throat.

"You are a terrible person" Drax announced.

The other Skrulls reacted like water against the dam.

A strange device sailed through the air. "Look out!" Natasha yells, diving out of the way.

Drax wasn't so lucky and quickly found himself trapped in the giant glowing orange box. It was pretty cool, like, hey! Does that come in purple? Cuz I sooo want one for my room!

At least ten of the skrulls pounced Natasha. Even with the mad skills she had, she didn't stand a chance against they're mass number. The girl and mother scampered off as quickly as mice down a hole.

At least they're safe.

I cursed; rubbing my pockets, hoping for a weapon to help them but only came up with the stupid ball that got me stabbed in the first place. Why was I still carrying that around?

"Ahhh, maybe you can tell me where that scepter is?" Ma-Kino-Sit smiled as his minions pointed a million knives at my partner but his eyes were on Drax, who just tightened his jaw.

"I hope you realize I can always get that girl and her mother back. I don't need the Widow. I will find great pleasure in slicing her to pieces."

It was true. You could read it on his face, in his very being.

I needed a plan… I needed a plan right… I had a plan.

A really stupid plan.

I looked at the ball in my hand and smiled.

A really, _really_ stupid plan.

But hey, when I died, at least it would be heroically.

That's all I really needed, right?

...

**I have heard your ple**a **P00915W14073, heroically he goes, though it's not saving Natasha from lazar guns but I hope scary skrull warriors are good enough. **

**So here it is! You're second chapter of the week! I almost split it half, and I did wind up cutting off a bit for next time. Yay! Actually... wait... that yay was misplaced. Oh no! They're all going to die! Ahhhhh! Next chapter is the last one... not quite sure what to think of that. What I'm going to be writing when's this is over! We just got to the fun paaaart!**

**Oh, now I need my plea for reviews... or threat...  
>Review, please! (That's the plea, now wait for it...)<br>Review or I won't post the next chapter.  
>Unless I already have (like in the future, unless I don't post it)<strong>


	10. The Edge

"Where's the Scepter?" hissed the Skrull king, eyes glinting madly.

Natasha's neck bled where she had been knicked by the knives but Drax stood firm, though his eyes wavered. He didn't want to have her death on his hands.

I jumped. My feet clanging against the ground of what looked to ba a hospital room, only Asgardian style. Pain shot up my legs, shaking every bone in my body before fading back into a low lull of fire. For a moment, my vision flashed red.

"I've got your scepter right here" My words blended together, so it sounded more like "Have gt yore skeptar wight here" So I gestured at it, so he'd get the point.

His eyes widened, as did his grin.

"Well, Hawkeye, I suppose if I let your friend go you'll just" he waves his hand "hand it over"

I felt guilty but shook my head. Confusion warped Mackie's facial expression.

I tried a glare "Give me answers, I'll give you the scepter"

His eyes narrowed, like he was suspicious now.

I tried a weak smile, which turned out to be an extremely weak smile. After getting poisoned and shoved through that washing machine. I was feeling great. Great kinda meaning I'm pretty sure I'm about to keel over. Or at least, that's always been my definition of it.

I ignored the red glaze in my sight, forcing myself to focus on the burning on my glove. If that thing burns through… I'd be dead. More dead than I already was.

Natasha's eyes were wide, her glare almost seem to whisper to me. _You can't be Clint. Clint would never give up his bargaining chip for info rather than his friends. The Clint I know is loyal._

For her, I managed to smile. For real this time.

_Hey, don't worry, Tash. _I hoped it told her _I have this handled. Everything will be okaaay._

_Except _hissed the poison _You'll be dead. For reals. Grave, remember?_

Awww, yes. How could I forget?

"What sort of information we speaking of?" He stalked like a tiger pacing around as it prepared to strike.

I shrugged "The good stuff. Like, Why the heck am I not dead?" I pointed the scepter at him.

He smile, pretending to be innocent "You mean you're not? Maybe this is all a bad dream. And even if it's not, how long do you think you can fight off the poison of the Elenike?"

I scratched the back of my neck. Two could play… whatever game he was playing. "Okaaay. How bout this one, who are you?" I talked slowly, trying to keep my tongue (which was feeling strangely numb) from getting tangled up. The red flashed brighter and the object in my glove seemed to burn with it.

_Just a little longer._

His eyes couldn't hide the surprise that flashed in his eyes. "I am Ma-kino-sit; you out of them all should remember me! I am-"

I held my hand to stop him, which strangely worked "No. No you're not. Ma-kino-sit is dead. I know. I was there. I saw him die"

Pain filled his gaze, only to be flushed out by hatred.

"Yes" he said, almost softly "Ma-kino-sit is dead" His eyes land on me "because of you"

"You crushed beneath that building like common rubble. Ma-kino-sit was our king! He was our leader! We loved beyond any love you're puny heart could feel!" he thrusts his finger towards me "And when we tried to save him! How we tried! Using our technology we could have pulled him out but all we got was…" he takes a deep breath "You. There are your answers, now hand over the scepter!"

I did. It was a purposefully wild throw and he had to bend to catch it.

He stood up, grinning evilly, while Natasha glared daggers at me.

He pointed at her "Kill the-"his voice trailed off as his eyes noticed something was wrong.

Then with two gentle fingers, he reached over and plucked the glowing blue stone out of its place.

I suppose it felt wrong. It looked like the stone, only perfectly round. It probably had almost a rubbery feel to it, like it was (which it is) a bouncy ball.

"What is this?!" He screeches, chucking the ball across the room, it ricochets off the wall and into the back of one of the minion's heads.

Ouch.

"Where's the infinity stone?!"

The first reply that came to my mind was, _do you realize how long it took me to shove that thing into there?! Like a whole two minutes!_

The next would have been: _Hey careful with the ball. I got stabbed to get that thing._

But what I said was "Stone for my friends?"

He glared. Natasha sighed. Drax was still banging against the wall of his prison, I wasn't sure if he could hear us.

"Fine" snarled the Skrull King. He waved his hand and they threw Natasha against the floor. Her head slammed against the ground and she lay utterly still.

At least she wouldn't be getting up.

I tossed the stone. I felt the firey touch of it leave my hand, could see the ash on my glove where it had tried to burn through. I saw Ma-kino-sit lean forward to catch it, his scaly hand reaching for the blue infinity stone.

His hand clasped around it before he realized his mistake.

The stone tore him apart. Natasha was safe on the floor, Drax saved by his cage.

And me…

I dived to try to get to safety, but the blast caught me, lifting me up before slamming me into the wall.

Ouch.

Stars covered my vision; I didn't even see the blue flash. Every bone in my body ached, I'd probably broken something.

_That was interesting, _noted the poison.

No way.

One of the skrulls suddenly loomed above me, his eyes telling me the whole story.

_Dude. You just killed both of our kings. Now I'm totally going to kill you._

He pulled out his gun to prove it.

And then he was cover, I mean literally _covered, _with lightning. It ran up and done his body until he fell away, smoking like a burned piece of meat.

Smelled like it, too.

Natasha stood there, red hair gleaming in the light, the gash on her face still trickling blood. Her widow bites still shooting out little shocks. Her lips moved, probably saying something about how I always needed her to save my rear in the end but I couldn't hear what she says.

_Now I kill you _the poison told me giddily.

The world melted into red, like a tunnel that I was drowning in.

Then it turned black, taking everything with it.

…

…..

"We live at the edge of life. Every day we could topple over that edge. It's the way we live. Clint knew the risks, and he took on them willingly. There will never again be a hero quite like him. He was a good man, loyal to the end" Steve sighed "we'll miss him"

A light breeze rustled the trees, the orange leaves of autumn shook against the branches. The sunlight fell across the large field, illuminating one out of many stones.

_Clinton Francis Barton_ it read.

_Friend and Hero._

"You know" Tony said, voice soft "I wanted it to say He died so you could live, so stop you're whining."

I scoffed "That would have been better" I turned to Steve "Thanks for the speech… it was… moving"

He rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh.

Natasha nudged me "First meal back on Earth, what would you like?"

I didn't hesitate "Peanut butter. With sprinkles"

"Oh! Oh!" Tony raised his hand "Can they be flower shaped?"

I nodded. All was well.

Natasha and Bruce sighed. "Wouldn't you prefer a shake?" Banner asked "you can have peanut butter later"

I puckered "Shakes sound good"

Tony beamed "We can put sprinkles on that!"

Sounded good. "They have to be purple, though"

Star-lord raced ahead "Meet you guys at the car" he stumbled and was passed by Steve.

"On your left"

Never got old. I clutched my bow, felt the comfortable weight of the quiver on my back.

Three years. It had been three years since I had been on Earth.

It was good to be home.

…

**Told you guys it would end with a gravestone. Didn't have to kill anyone because they were already dead. **

**Originally, I didn't have the guardians present when they faked Clint's funeral but Star-lord wormed his way there.**

**Anyway, so there you have it.**

**The end.**

**Reviews will forever be babied. Forever. I will sit there and stare at them for hours. The more, the better. **

**Personally, I think it went well, what do you guys think?**


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